This is the first of a two volume set telling the story of HM Prison Dartmoor. It truly is a tale of two prisons for, while its original purpose was to house prisoners of war, it later became a convict prison - perhaps the most notorious the world over.

The story of HM Prison Dartmoor begins over two hundred years ago at the time of the Napoleonic Wars. But it is truly a tale of two prisons for, while its original purpose was to house prisoners of war, it later became a convict prison - perhaps the most notorious the world over.